New home sales plunge in WA

I have a PI friend who lives in Albany and she said the dropoff in interest has been remarkable. They actually built pre-boom and sold a year ago and made a motza but the house would have trouble selling for 80% of what they got now, she believes.

 

Credit crunch + ill conceived (in the current environment) cut in cgt for property investors will see a large dive in the UK as well I believe:

"Landlord Jim Parker says the reduction in CGT from 40 per cent to 18 per cent is “brilliant”. So brilliant, in fact, that he has put four of his right-to-let properties on the market so that he can cash in his chips.

Now there are thousands of Jim Parkers around the country who have used cheap credit and steadily rising house prices over the past decade to create their own little property empires.

If large numbers of them decide to follow Mr Parker’s example and cash in their investments (a strong temptation now that prices are turning, an already falling market is going to be flooded with properties, forcing prices lower and creating the danger of a vicious, downward spiral."

Tax change may cause a property crash : April 2008 : Three Line Whip : Politics : Telegraph Blogs

Falling property prices seem to be a recurring theme at the moment, any tips on when (if not already) this will show up in the wider Australian market?

 

I get the impression that property prices in the Eastern Australian market will probably be unlike to drop much more than a percent or two in the next 6 months (if at all), especially if the reports of interest rates having reached their peaks are true with the tide about to turn on interest rates in the next 6 to 12 months.

If anything I'd expect that there may well be surges in property prices in 6 - 12 months time as many start to take advantage of the current buyers market.